The pain brié ( brié bread) is a typical French bakery food. It is a type of bread originating from Normandy, more precisely, from the Bessin region.
The pain brié is closely related to brioche, a product with which it shares both some ingredients and the etymological root of the name.
The noun used for this type of traditional bread comes from the pasta processing technique; the term "brier" derives from the verb "brier" of the ancient Norman language, which means "to hammer" (or, as we shall see, to beat).
At one time it was mistakenly believed that the name derived from "brie", the well-known cheese. This misunderstanding arose from the hypothesis that the "brie" could constitute an archaic ingredient of pain brié.
The preparation of the pain brié requires a long period of mixing and beating of the dough (with a stick, which would be the rolling pin), a necessary precaution to thicken the crumb of the cooked food.
A recipe for Pain Brié is as follows:
Ingredients of the first dough: 275-300g of "0" type flour, 5g of dry yeast or 10g of fresh one, 175ml of warm water.
Ingredients of the second dough: at the first dough, add 175ml of warm water, 12g of fine salt, 350-400g of "0" type flour.
Procedure: obtain the first mixture (which must be soft); let rise at room temperature for about 15h. Break the leavening and, in a bowl, add the salted water for the second dough; mix and thicken with 350g of flour mixing for at least 10 '(if necessary, add another 50g, being careful not to harden the mixture too much). On a pastry board, using a rolling pin, beat the bread from top to bottom for another 10 '. Divide into two slightly flattened loaves; sprinkle with corn flour, let it rise again from covered for at least 10 'then discover and leave another 5'. Make longitudinal incisions (similar to the lines of a melon) and bake in pre-heated oven for 50 'at 200 °, turning the pan halfway through cooking.
